dust.

I guess the previous post was a spur of the moment kind of thing. or was it? I just needed to get it out...felt much better after it...yeah. it's not the end of the world afterall. it just happens cos I tend to think too much...not good. hmm. but everything's ok for now...

I've been trying to pack the past few days. sort of semi-packing, throwing out stuff, putting things into boxes. it's going slow...there seems to be no hurry, or so I think. just went to the Visitor Information Centre today to book my bus ticket up to Christchurch next Fri. I'm leaving so soon...! =( counting down 10 more days till I go home. home? really? I spend my whole year here in NZ, and I'm only in S'pore for a month or so...is it still home? anyway.

well, here are some photos from the tramping trip a while back. erm, these are very selected, and this time I chose those with the 'shadow' effect. dark faces against a brighter background. so happens that I do have enough to cover everyone. yeah. so here goes (along with my summary of the trip):

Jane Lim and me @ KFC before the tramp.

we left Dunedin early in the morning, and stopped by Gore for lunch. loading up on carbs (and fats) before our "ordeal". there were a lot of laughs and I really enjoyed the company...

tramp commander Josh Ong.

and so we arrived at Te Anau after a few hours of driving + stops. the motel was quite nice...and we didn't do much, just rested and packed our bags for the trip. we all had an early night before setting out for the track the next morning.

Janes (Lim and Lee) in the van on the way to Kepler Track.

day 1 was quite an experience, I really wanted to give up, but we were all pushing each other to go on. all the uphill slopes we climbed, it seemed like it was never ending. =S I wanted to cry...it was so hard, and...well, I was in a bad mood that day too. =( so it was rather...tough for the first bit of the day. when we FINALLY reached the clearing at the top, everyone just suddenly lighted up and whipped out their cameras and kept clicking away. so yeah...a bit more of a walk before we FINALLY reached Luxmore Hut. I was exhausted when we arrived, took a nap, washed up, took another nap, then had a delicious dinner. and we retired early cos there weren't any lights available in the bunk rooms or bathroom once it got dark, plus we were tired too.

Josh Koh, Josh Ong and Sulyn.

day 2 was a much more interesting experience, we got up bright and early (wake up time 6am, left the hut at 7ish) and walked on the tops of the mountain ridges for most part of the day. there was a part where the winds were really strong, coming from the side and below, and we were walking on the side of a mountain. it was literally walking on a ledge and if you'd slipped you would've fallen quite a bit...but we all got through that safely. you felt as though you were on top of the world cos you were, afterall, walking on mountain tops. then the rest of the journey was downhill, lots more slopes, and I went really slow cos my blisters were hurting quite badly. this time when we reached Iris Burn hut it was more of an anti-climax...AND we were greeted by sandflies. =S I have a phobia of them! (even now my sandfly bites still itch like crazy and they look horrible cos I've been scratching them...) but yeah, another night in a hut (rather than a tent and I'm thankful for that) and another yummy dinner. this time around, I didn't manage to sleep well, it was such a terrible night...

Chewy, Jane Lim and Ben.

day 3 my mood sort of went down the drain again early in the morning, probably partly due to the lack of sleep. the day before I was absolutely lovely! well, I thought I was anyway. but that day was all walking on flat ground...some ups and downs, but nothing much exciting. most of the time was spent walking in the forest, nice and green. the views when we were walking by the sea/river/stream were great though. lots of photo opportunities...and we walked for the longest time ever to finally reach the end. I was tired and just didn't feel up to anything, so for me it wasn't really that satisfying. but we all did it, we made it to the end. dinner was a treat at The Ranch for a big feast (but not before all of us had nice warm showers! we didn't get to shower for 2 days...I did clean up but it's different from having a shower...) and I, once again, was too exhausted to interact properly. after the meal I was much better though, thankfully. although I didn't get a good sleep still even back in the motel...

we didn't go back to Dunedin straight from Te Anau the next day, we went to Queenstown for a bit. didn't really do much there, but it was good being with the others for a while longer. laughing lots, having fun, snapping more photos. after lunch at Fergburger, stopped over at Arrowtown along the way home, and some other short stops as well. the weather was just awesome, as was when we were tramping. the forecast for horrendous weather didn't come to pass, cos we were all under watchful eyes of our Maker. and we were blessed with rainbows round every corner on the 2nd day of the tramp...yeah. we reached back in Dunedin late in the evening, and that marked the end of our tramping trip.

yup. end of story. I wasn't gonna type so much! it's late already, and I should be sleeping...

last but not least, me (and Josh O).

there's something about the photo that I like...

anyway, I should make the most of the time I have left here in Dunedin. it will no longer be called my 'home' next year...

I know now my feelings are like dust...if I left it there for long enough it would accumulate...but when a gust of wind comes, it's just gonna be blown away, gone from sight, scattered as dust particles in the air...